''Animal Crackers'' is an animated
television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
produced by the
CINAR Corporation
Cookie Jar Entertainment Inc. (also known as Cookie Jar Group and originally known as CINAR; renamed as DHX Cookie Jar Inc. from 2012 until 2014, or simply just Cookie Jar) was a Canadian media production and distribution company owned by DHX M ...
and
Alphanim
Gaumont Animation (formerly known as Alphanim) is a French animation studio. It was acquired by Gaumont Film Company in 2008 as a return to television production, and an entry into English-language productions, after Gaumont Television was sold ...
.
It is based on the comic strip ''
Animal Crackers
An animal cracker is a particular type of cracker, baked in the shape of an animal, usually an animal either at a zoo or a circus, such as a lion, a tiger, a bear, or an elephant. The most common variety is light-colored and slightly sweet, but ...
'' by the US cartoonist Roger Bollen. The show was first introduced in September 7, 1997 and ended with the final episode in September 16, 2000. It lasted for three seasons with all episodes.
Plot
The show that tells about a group of anthropomorphic animals that live in a fictional jungle in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
called Freeborn.
Telecast and home media
The show was first aired in Canada on
Teletoon
Teletoon (stylized as TELETOON) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Teletoon Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment. Its name is a portmanteau of "television" and " cartoon". The channel primarily broadcasts ...
during its launch in 1997, but added in the U.S. on
Fox Family (now Freeform) in 1998 until 2000 and the
Cookie Jar Toons
Cookie Jar Toons (also known as This Is for Kids) was a daily children's programming block on the This TV digital broadcast network when that network was partially owned by the former Weigel Broadcasting (7 years later, the network was acquired b ...
block on
This TV
This TV (also known as This TV Network and alternately stylized as thisTV) is an American free-to-air television network owned by Allen Media
Broadcast Networks, LLC, part of the Allen Media Group division of Entertainment Studios. Originally fo ...
from November 2008 until August 2009. In foreign countries, the show was also aired in France on
La Cinquième
France 5 () is a French free-to-air public television channel, part of the France Télévisions group. Principally featuring educational programming, the channel's motto is ''la chaîne de la connaissance et du savoir'' (the knowledge network). ...
(now France 5). As of 2022, the show is now streaming on
Tubi
Tubi is an American over-the-top content platform and ad-supported streaming service owned by Fox Corporation. The service was launched on April 1, 2014, and is based in Los Angeles, California. In January 2021, Tubi reached 33 million monthly ...
.
Characters
Major characters
* Lyle
Lion
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...
(voiced by
Mark Camacho
Mark Camacho (born April 12, 1964) is a Canadian film, television and voice actor.
Career
He has starred in live-action films, but is best known for his voice acting roles, such as Oliver Frensky in ''Arthur'', Lyle in '' Animal Crackers'', Dad ...
): Passive, insecure and a
mama's boy
Mother's boy, also commonly and informally mummy's boy or mama's boy, is a term for a man seen as having an unhealthy dependence on his mother at an age at which he is expected to be self-reliant (e.g. live on his own, be economically independent) ...
, Lyle is not what one might call "King of the Jungle". (He's more of a prince, who is incapable of being king), intent on taking philosophy classes and ordering a pizza (preferably vegetarian) than to be the dominant predator. Despite multiple failed attempts, his number one goal in life is to date Lana. Outside his love life, his other goal is to be an astronomer.
* Dodo (voiced by Teddy Lee Dillon): He is the last remaining
dodo
The dodo (''Raphus cucullatus'') is an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to the island of Mauritius, which is east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The dodo's closest genetic relative was the also-extinct Rodrigues solitaire. The ...
alive and is Lyle's best friend. Rash, impatient and slightly self-centered, he is extremely hot-headed and refuses to believe that he lacks the ability to fly. This leads to multiple failed attempts to take flight, sometimes using some very innovative and unusual techniques, all of which fail.
* Eugene (voiced by
Terrence Scammell): Despite his size and nature, this pachyderm is really an "overgrown baby" who craves attention. He is rather arrogant and obnoxious and is not afraid to bully others with his size and strength to get what he wants. Some of his secret pleasures include inhaling loads of peanut butter and stomping petunias but the sight of a tiny mouse will freak him out.
* Gnu (voiced by Marc Montgomery): For a "supposed" leader of a herd,
Gnu
GNU () is an extensive collection of free software (383 packages as of January 2022), which can be used as an operating system or can be used in parts with other operating systems. The use of the completed GNU tools led to the family of operat ...
lacks any leadership qualities; rather, his traits show the exact opposite of a leader: lazy, timid and no sense of direction. Despite his nature, Gnu does mean well and is very dedicated to his herd, even though his presence there will hinder rather than help. A single father with a son he loves very much, he is a caring parent.
* Lana (voiced by Kate Hutchinson): Lana is smart, attractive, strong-minded and the object of Lyle's affection. Lana is quite caring towards her fellow inhabitants of Freeborn and will put the group ahead of herself. She is an avid book lover and is often found with her nose in a novel. Despite showing little to no interest in Lyle's pursuits, it has been hinted that perhaps she does have a crush on him.
Supporting characters
* Tito: a silent
chameleon
Chameleons or chamaeleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 202 species described as of June 2015. The members of this family are best known for their distinct range of colors, bein ...
with no dialogue in the entire series. Often Tito can be found among the main characters, but due to his size and silent nature, he's usually either knocked aside, stepped or sat on, or used for some purpose, the characters mistaking him for an inanimate object. Despite this, Tito rarely holds any ill-will or contempt for the others and often shows to be very intelligent or at least at times on the same level as Lana, able to solve a problem or fix something when most of the other characters can't figure it out
* Lance: Another lion who competes with Lyle for Lana's attention
* Louie: Lyle's nephew. Being a cub still in diapers, Louie speaks in a manner similar to Mikey from
Look Who's Talking
''Look Who's Talking'' is a 1989 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Amy Heckerling, and starring John Travolta and Kirstie Alley. Bruce Willis plays the voice of Mollie's son, Mikey. The film features George Segal as Albert.
P ...
where the audience can hear his thoughts, but the characters within the show are unaware what he's thinking. Unlike most animals on the Preserve, Louie doesn't think less of Lyle for his shortcomings, though he does show more self-awareness and intelligence than his uncle
* Bud and Edna: Two recurring human tourists, both the common stereotype of the annoying tourist couple who bumble about, usually completely unaware of what's really going on around them and making things more uncomfortable for the locals
* Junior and herd: Junior is Gnu's son (though never properly named in the series beyond 'Junior', so it is possible he shares his father's name) he is shown to be smarter and have more common sense than his father and is sometimes embarrassed by him, but understands Gnu's desire to be a leader and a good father and loves and respects him for this. The herd meanwhile don't show as much respect but are rather fittingly about as lazy as Gnu, often bailing on him whenever he calls for a stampede. Ironically, it is their lazy tendencies that keep Gnu as leader as any other leader (such as Roland the
Waterbuffalo
The water buffalo (''Bubalus bubalis''), also called the domestic water buffalo or Asian water buffalo, is a large bovid originating in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Today, it is also found in Europe, Australia, North America, So ...
) would forcibly work them hard and into shape, which they don't want. Some of the herd have more distinct personalities, such as the gnu with a backwards baseball cap who speaks like a Californian surfer stereotype, an especially geeky gnu with an ID tag on his ear (these two can often be seen together), and a smaller gnu about Junior's age who appears to be the geeky gnu's little brother as they share similar characteristics, such as glasses and buck teeth
* Elmo the
Crocodile
Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...
: A somewhat passive and laid back crocodile who usually just floats in the pond. He tends to be the butt of physical pain humor every now and then as someone ends up landing on his head when jumping into the pond. Although he's as docile as any of the other animals in the Preserve, he will on the rare occasion indulge his predatory instincts by trying and failing to convince smaller animals to allow him to eat them
* Lamont the
Hippopotamus
The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...
* Roxanne the
Ostrich
Ostriches are large flightless birds of the genus ''Struthio'' in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There are ...
(voiced by Dawn Ford)
* Grandpa
Tortoise
Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a turtle shell, shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, ...
and his grandsons
* Sergeant
Rhino
A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...
*
Snake
Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...
*
Frog
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...
and
Toad
Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands.
A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scientif ...
Episode list
Season one
Season two
Season three
Crew
* Micheline Charest – executive producer
* Ronald A. Weinberg – executive producer
* Christian Davin – co-executive producer
* Cassandra Schafhausen – producer
* Nadja Cozic – director
* Louis Piche – director
* Pascal Pinon – director
* Katell Lardeux – line producer
* Justine Hyun Van Phong – line producer
* Lesley Taylor – line producer
* Natalie Dumoulin – associate producer
* Jan Van Rijsselberge – animation supervisor
* Heidi Blomkvist – timing director
* Sebastian Grunsta – timing director
* Alan Jeffery – timing director
* Jean Pilotte – timing director
* Pascal Pinon – co-director
* Greg Bailey – supervising director
* Andrew Gryn – talent coordinator
* Eric Theriault – background design
* Wayne Millett – background design supervisor
Writing credits
*
Roger Bollen
__NOTOC__
Roger (Rog) Bollen (July 27, 1941 – October 3, 2015) was an American writer and illustrator of comic strips and children's books, and a producer of television shows for children.
Born in East Cleveland, he graduated from Shaw High Sch ...
– comic strip
* Joseph Mallozzi – writer
*
Ian Boothby
Ian Boothby (born June 8, 1967) is a multiple Shuster Award, Harvey Award and Eisner Award nominee and an Eisner Award–winning comic book creator best known for his work as the lead writer on ''Simpsons Comics'' and ''Futurama Comics'' for Ma ...
– writer
* Wayne Millett – writer
* Jennifer Kierans – writer
* Pierre Colin-Tiebert – writer
* Thomas LaPierre – writer
* Jacques Bouchard – writer
* Jacques Daviault – writer
* Patrick Granleese – writer
* Hugh Neilson – writer
* Maureen Neilson – writer
* Michael Palmeter – writer
* Gerard Lewis – writer
* John Handforth – writer
* Ken Ross – writer
* Amy Jo Cooper – writer
* Greg Van Riel – writer
* Kim Segal – writer
* Rick Jones – writer
* Natalie Dumoulin – writer
* Heidi Foss – writer
* Lynn Mason – writer
* Brian Cameron Fuld – writer
* Rowby Goren – writer
* David Acer – writer
* Michael Leo Donovan – writer
* Bryan Michael Stoller – writer
* Anne-Marie Perrotta – writer
* Daniel Baldassi – writer
* Michael F. Hamill – writer
* Barry Julian – writer
* Tean Schultz – writer
* Thor Bishopric – writer
* Todd Swift – writer
* Vigeland Rubin – writer
References
External links
at
DHX Media
WildBrain Ltd. (formerly known as DHX Media, Ltd.) is a Canadian media, animation studio, production, and brand licensing company, mostly associated as an entertainment company. The company is known for owning the largest library of children ...
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Animal Crackers (Tv Series)
1997 Canadian television series debuts
Canadian children's animated comedy television series
1997 French television series debuts
1999 French television series endings
Fox Family Channel original programming
France Télévisions children's television series
France Télévisions television comedy
1990s French animated television series
French children's animated comedy television series
Gaumont Animation
Television series by Cookie Jar Entertainment
Television shows filmed in Montreal
Teletoon original programming
1990s Canadian animated television series
2000s Canadian animated television series
2000 Canadian television series endings
Television shows based on comic strips
Animated television series about elephants
Animated television series about birds
Animated television series about lions
Television shows set in Africa
Dodo
English-language television shows